Trip gift on New Year

Gireesh Infrastructure Private Limited has decided to gift residents tour options to Puri, Varanasi, Gorakhpur and Calcutta on swanky buses in the New Year.

The firm would also start operations on the Patna-Gorakhpur and Patna-Calcutta route. The permits were recently issued to the firm by the state transport authority, Bihar.

“We have been granted permits for operation of our buses on the Patna-Varanasi, Patna-Gorakhpur and Patna-Puri routes. Our buses are parked at the depot for the past several months and we are in the process of finalising documentation work with the state transport authorities of the connecting states (Uttar Pradesh and Odisha). We have a target to start services by January 15,” said a senior executive of Gireesh Infrastructure Private Limited.

The buses would run at an average speed of 60-80km per hour, covering a stretch of around 300km from Patna to Varanasi via Sasaram in around four-and-a-half-hours. Though the fares on the new routes are yet to be finalised, sources claimed it could be around Rs 500 on the Patna-Varanasi route, Rs 475 on the Patna-Gorakhpur route and Rs 1,300 on the Patna-Puri route.

Bihar State Road Transport Corporation (BSRTC) would run the buses in partnership with Gireesh Infrastructure under a public-private partnership scheme. A total of 92 luxury coaches are proposed to run from Bihar to Jharkhand, Odisha and Chhattisgarh by Gireesh Infrastructure under the brand name Gaurav Luxury.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar inaugurated the first fleet of nine luxury buses on December 10, 2011, at Sultan Palace. Sources said 29 buses have been delivered to BSRTC till date but only 13 have been running. The remaining 16 would be now run on the new routes.

Two buses for the round trip would run on each route. The 53-seater luxury coaches are powered by Euro III engine and are equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, including WiFi, Live TV, Dolby Digital audio-video DVD player, two LCD screens and mobile/laptop chargers with every seat among other features.

Operations on the much-awaited Patna-Calcutta route are also expected to start around mid-January.

“The state transport authority in Bihar issued the permits for operation of our luxury buses in April. In November, we were issued a corresponding nod from the state transport authority in Bengal. We are finalising formalities. We intend to start the services from mid-January,” said the executive of Gireesh Infrastructure.